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[jamsat-news:2425] ANS-315 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins


AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-315

ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North
America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the
activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an
active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating
through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites.

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:

ans-editor@amsat.org


In this edition:
* HAM RADIO NEAR SPACE:  HAM BALLOON WILL TRY ATLANTIC CROSSING
* Call for Papers at 12th Annual Southeastern VHF Society Conference
* AO-16 partially recovered
* Satellite Shorts
* ARISS Status - 5 November 2007

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-315.01
HAM RADIO NEAR SPACE:  HAM BALLOON WILL TRY ATLANTIC CROSSING

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 315.01
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 11, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-315.01

Here is a mission for all you Satellite enthusiasts to follow and give
reports to.  Amateurs at the University of Tennessee Amateur Radio Club
are launching a balloon with a beacon in the 10 MHz Amateur Band that
may travel across the Atlantic.

The latest Icarus X mission designated  UX-19, will hopefully launch
about the time we go to air. The payload will include a GPS unit and
computerized unit that will regulate the balloon's altitude and send
telemetry on 10.123 MHz in CW and RTTY formats. In addition to the 30m
beacon there will also be an APRS beacon AA4UT-11 on 144.390 MHz FM.
The dates are TBA (soon).

The flight has been dubbed 'The Spirit Of Knoxville' after Lindbergh's
first trans-Atlantic flight.  The 10 MHz transmitter will run 3 watts
output into a half wave dipole hung below the balloon.  The goal of its
5 day mission  is to be the first Amateur Radio equipped helium balloon
to cross the Atlantic.

More is on-line at www.utarc.org (UTARC)

[ANS thanks  Dan, K2VOL,  for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-315.02
Call for Papers at 12th Annual Southeastern VHF Society Conference

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 315.02
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 11, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-315.02


April 25th and 26th, 2008
Orlando, Florida

The Southeastern VHF Society is calling for the submission of papers and
presentations for the upcoming 12th Annual Southeastern VHF Society
Conference to be held in Orlando, Florida on April 25th and 26th, 2008.
  Papers and presentations are solicited on both the technical and
operational aspects of VHF, UHF and Microwave weak signal amateur radio.
  Some suggested areas of interest are:

Transmitters
Receivers
Transverters
RF Power Amplifiers
RF Low Noise Pre Amplifiers
Antennas
Construction Projects
Test Equipment And Station Accessories
Station Design And Construction
Contesting
Roving
DXpeditions
EME
Propagation (Sporadic E, Meteor Scatter, Troposphere Ducting, etc.)
Digital Modes (WSJT, etc.)
Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
Software Defined Radio (SDR)
Amateur Satellites
Amateur Television

In general papers and presentations on non weak signal related topics
such as FM repeaters and packet will not be accepted but exceptions may
be made if the topic is related to weak signal.  For example, a paper or
presentation on the use of APRS to track rovers during contests would be
considered.

The deadline for the submission of papers and presentations is February
29, 2008.  All submissions should be in Microsoft Word (.doc) or
alternatively Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files.

  Pages are 8 and 1/2 by 11 inches with a 1 inch margin on the bottom
and inch margin on the other three sides.  All text, drawings, photos,
etc. should be black and white only (no color).

  Please indicate when you submit your paper or presentation if you plan
to attend the conference and present there or if you are submitting just
for publication.  Papers and presentations will be published in bound
proceedings by the ARRL.  Send all questions, comments and submissions
to the program chair, Steve Kostro, N2CEI at
svhfs2008@downeastmicrowave.com.

For further information about the conference please go to www.svhfs.org
and/or www.flwss.net.


[ANS thanks John Logsdon, K2STO, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-315.03
AO-16 partially recovered

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 315.03
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 11, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-315.03

After being off the air for several months, I'm happy to announce that
AO-16 has been partially recovered and is transmitting on 437.026 Mhz.
The satellite was recovered to the boot loader by Mark Hammond N8MH with
guidance from Bruce Rahn WB9ANQ and others. Further reloading of the
satellite is underway. The AO-16 team could use your help collecting the
binary MBL telemetry for now, and the regular telemetry once the reload
is completed.

If you receive any telemetry from AO-16, please submit it (preferably as
a .KSS file attachment) to telemetry AT quagliana DOT com and put the
words "AO-16 Telemetry" in the subject of your email. Please include
your callsign  (if any), your latitude/longitude (or grid square), and
the date and time when the telemetry was collected.

73, Drew KO4MA
AMSAT-NA VP Ops

[ANS thanks Lee, KU4OS, for the above information]

/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-315.04
Satellite Shorts

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 315.04
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 11, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-315.04

John, G7HIA and Robert, G8ATE announced this week that an award
   certificate is available to all Stations that have worked GB5OSO
   for the 50th Anniversary of SPUTNIK-1. Additional information can
   be found at: http://www.turlington.supanet.com.  Over 300 contacts
   in 33 DXCC countries on AO7, AO27, SO51, AO51 and VO52. More than
   170 stations were logged and many were worked on more than one sat-
   ellite. Two stations who I worked on all 5 birds: G1OCN and ON5NY.
   JA0CAW and JH1EKH organized a conection via EchoLink to SO50 and
   AO51 over Japan.

+ Fred Parker, KF0AK invites radio amateurs to join a satellite net
   on 3.937 MHz  at 8:00 PM CST Thursday evenings.  Depending on band
   conditions a link the local repeater K0GPZ-R Echolink node 349368
   may be available.

+ Motorola USA announced its intention to acquire a controlling interest
   in Vertex Standard Co, Ltd. Vertex Standard is the parent company of
   Yaesu.

+ Microwave antenna enthusiasts may find a paper from the Microwave
   Update Conference by Paul, W1GHZ interesting.  It can be found on-line
   at http://www.w1ghz.org/antbook/conf/Enhanced_Septum_Feed_MUD07.pdf

+ Graham, G3VZV sent information about a position open at the European
   Space Agency that may be of interest.  See:
   http://www.esa.int/hr/YGT/ESTEC_001.pdf

+ SpaceDaily reported this week that China plans to open moon probe
   projects to the public to attract participation of competent institu-
   tions and enterprises in the moon program, said a spokesman with the
   China National Space Administration (CNSA). This could include scien-
   tific research organs, universities and also private companies.

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]


/EX


SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-315.05
ARISS Status - 5 November 2007

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 315.05
 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD.
November 11, 2007
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-315.05


1.	ARISS - Italian School Contacts Successful

IIS Deambrosis-Natta in Sestri Levante and the Engineering Faculty of
the University of Lâquila, Italy experienced an Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, October 29.
Approximately 200 attended
IIS Deambrosis-Natta and another 350 students, teachers and
correspondents were present at the University of Lâquila. STS-120
Commander Pam Melroy first greeted the students and then Paolo Nespoli,
IZ0JPA, answered thirteen questions posed to him over two consecutive
passes. Newspapers, television stations and radio stations reported on
the event. The audio from this event was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT
(101 377) and JK1ZRW (277 208) servers, and into the Internet Radio
Linking Project (IRLP) Discovery Reflector 9010.  A summary of the
contact was posted to the ARISS-Europe Web site with audio and a
photograph. See: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2007_10_29.htm

The European Space Agency (ESA) ran an article on the ARISS contact:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Esperia/SEMJC4FWB8F_0.html

2.	Second Successful School Contact with Italian Schools

On Wednesday, October 31, students attending Liceo Scientifico G.Galilei
in Civitavecchia, Roma and others at ITI-LST Mottura in Caltanisetta,
Italy participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS) contact. ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA answered 10
questions from as many students during the question and answer session.
Approximately 200 and 300 students were in attendance from Civitavecchia
and Caltanisetta, respectively. Audio from this event was fed into the
EchoLink AMSAT (101 377) and JK1ZRW (277 208) servers and received 14
connections including 3 repeaters, from 8 countries. The audio was also
fed into the Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) Discovery Reflector
9010. Television stations, radio stations and newspapers covered the
event. For more information, see the ARISS-Europe Web site:
http://www.ariss-eu.org/2007_11_02.htm

The European Space Agency (ESA) ran a story on the Nespoli contact. See:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Esperia/SEMAT1NHE8F_0.html

3.	Malaysian School Contacts Update

Malaysian space visitor Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, 9W2MUS,
participated in the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) program while on board the ISS. Five different groups of
Malaysian school children gathered at the National Planetarium in Kuala
Lumpur and spoke with Shukor, directly via 9M2RPN.  All five of the
successful contacts took place over the week of October 14.
Approximately 90 people attended each of the 1st and 3rd- 5th sessions;
the second contact had an audience of 50 students, teachers and others.
The National Planetarium provided the youth with shows related to space
exploration during their visits and each student was issued a QSL
(postcard) to commemorate the event. NASA astronaut Robert Å©ootGibson
was present during the final session and gave talks about space. Three
television stations, one radio station and 5 newspapers covered these
events.

4.	Status of ARISS School Contacts Schedule

Due to the very demanding schedules of the crew onboard the ISS, no
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts have
been planned at this time.  The ARISS team expects contacts to resume
once STS-122 launches in December. For a more complete status of the
ARISS program, go to:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/10day/msg01446.html

5.	AMSAT Space Symposium Presentation

The 2007 Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) Space Symposium was
held on October 26 -28 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) Chairman Frank BauerÃÔ presentation
given during the conference has been posted to the AMSAT Web site. See:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Presentations/AMSAT%20Symposiums/2007%20Symposium/



[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information]

/EX


In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the
President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors
to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits.
Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office.

73,
This week's ANS Editor,
Dee Interdonato, NB2F
nb2f at amsat dot org















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